Things that inspire, intrigue, amuse, or entertain me

July 04, 2007

Keeping up with the Ellison's

With the America's Cup finishing just south of Barcelona this week, everyone is flaunting their dingy's.

I came across this yacht and said to myself, "Umm, now that's a big boat. Wonder who owns it?"

I then looked to my right and said, "Holy Tapas, that's a big boat. I really wonder who owns it?" Turns out the yacht is the 235' Tueq said to be owned by Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia, the brother of the late King Fahd.

And then, I came across the Rising Sun. It had a basketball court on the back. Makes one wonder how many balls are floating around the seas. It's the fourth largest yacht in the world. The Rising Sun is Larry Ellison's (Oracle) toy. I kept wondering who really gets to use Larry's yacht. Surely, he's not hanging out with tapas and sangria in the middle of the week. So, who is on the boat sailing around the Mediterranean.

Rising Sun carries three smaller boats, all longer than 40 feet. It has 82 rooms spread across 5 stories with over 86,000 feet of living space and an estimated annual operating budget of $20M.